During my preparation to a trip to a new place, I think inevitably of the many pictures I saw before in the web and from other photographers. I try to avoid this consciously, in order to be able to take the new impressions uncolored once I am at the place. This is difficult with Santorini. Every Greek postcard cliché, with bright blue churches on the rocky edge of the sea, is served here. If you search for Santorini on the web, you will be filled up, by glossy picture panoramas that promise a magical world in the middle of the Mediterranean…but reality could be so different.
The blooming cruise ship industry has made a lot of effort, to open up shining Mediterranean icons like Santorini to the mainstream media as well as the mass tourism. The impact of this type of traveling is unthinkable and the once quiet streets of Fira and Oia have become the hustle and bustle of a fairground that entertains tens of thousands of tourists every day. In peak times, 18,000! visitors per day were counted, with over 600 ships coming each year (see below…The Guardian).
In the course of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, the unique opportunity arose to spend an extensive week in Santorini and to experience the charm, silence and tranquility of the old island idyll.
I was not disappointed…
